1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for providing content experience service and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus that are capable of simulating instant interactions between a virtual space and a user by tracking the motion of a user in a real space and then projecting the tracked motion onto the virtual space, and providing images corresponding to the simulated results as the multi-image output of first person immersion images for the user and third person inspection view images for the spectators, thereby providing the user and spectators with content experience service having a high sense of immersion.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer graphics have begun to be used for the entertainment fields, such as gaming or broadcasting thanks to the rapid development of computer hardware in the 1980s. Images chiefly based on two-dimensional (2D) images and represented in black and white have begun to be extended to three-dimensional (3D) graphics and color representations thanks to the rapid progress of image generation-dedicated hardware called a graphic-dedicated card. In particular, in the 3D graphics field, the improvement of picture quality was outstanding, and Sega released the first 3D fighting action game called “Virtual Fighter” in 1993. In fact, in view of the current graphics level, the first 3D fighting action game was characterized as having a very low level plane; however it also incorporated the free settings of viewpoints and realistic hitting sensation which made a user feel as if the user really participated in the game. Thus the aforementioned game gained tremendous popularity despite an expensive usage fee, although it provides scenes in a simple 2-D plane and allows only for fixed viewpoints. Due to the development of high-performance hardware, game series were developed that incorporated digital actors that increasingly resembled true human shapes. In particular, as a 3D graphics-dedicated hardware acceleration function supported in the expensive workstation level became inexpensive sufficient to be used even in personal computers, 3D virtual space-based content which might otherwise have only been enjoyed through expensive hardware came into wide use.
At this time, interfaces based on a 3D virtual space were chiefly based on joysticks. A joystick consisting of a combination of a direction stick and several buttons irrespective of the type of game was an easy to enter commands, but did not provide a sense of immersion because the joystick had almost no relation to a virtual space. In a racing game-based virtual space, an interface that took the form of a driving control environment for a vehicle, such as an acceleration pedal, a brake pedal and a steering wheel, was used; but this interface was limited to a specific virtual space.
In the late 1990s, virtual space-based content that had been simply experienced using an eye and a hand evolved into an interface that used the human body. A game combined with an interface that was configured such that a user pressed sensors on the floor while dancing to music attracted an immense, immediate popularity. Wii, released by Nintendo, provides a remote controller-type control interface called a Wii remote controller. Nintendo Wii has become popular with many people by controlling a virtual environment through the actual motion of a user, rather than simply manipulating a joystick. In order to compete with the popularity of the Nintendo Wii, attributable to the Wii remote controller, Microsoft released “Kinect.” Kinect can be used in XBox, which is Microsoft's home game machine. Unlike existing interfaces, Kinect enables a user to play a game based on his or her gestures without requiring any hardware, such as a joystick or a remote controller.
For example, as in Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2012-0044461 entitled “Simulated Training Apparatus and Method using Mixed Reality”, virtual space-based content have evolved into an interface that generates a real image by capturing an object that enters a user's sight, generates a virtual image corresponding to the real image, converges the real image and the virtual image, and then perform virtual training based on the converged image, that is, an interface that is actually used in the specific training of a user.
Furthermore, various types of head mounted display (HMD) products have begun to be introduced into the market thanks to display technology that implements a slim profile and a small size and also supports high-resolution images. The development of such hardware provides a user with a good tool capable of implementing a virtual space and having a high sense of immersion. Furthermore, there is a need for a method of implementing content-based experience service capable of providing a user with a high sense of immersion.